Selflessness

[Shakz]

What's the most unselfish thing you've ever done? Granted, it would'nt be very unselfish to take credit for it by publishing the act, but take refuge in your anonimity. And, yes, perhaps there are no truly selfless acts, human nature being what it is and all. But taking all that into account, what act of charity, for which you recieved little or no recognition, are you most proud?

[CLC2008]

I banned eating Turkey for Thanksgiving one year.

[CupidsPosionedArrow]

I banned eating Turkey for Thanksgiving one year.

Great an interesting post, you are surely a cool and witty guy :-) (( thumbs up ))

[CupidsPosionedArrow]

What's the most unselfish thing you've ever done? Granted, it would'nt be very unselfish to take credit for it by publishing the act, but take refuge in your anonimity. And, yes, perhaps there are no truly selfless acts, human nature being what it is and all. But taking all that into account, what act of charity, for which you recieved little or no recognition, are you most proud?

 

I once complemented a U2 fan for his post to a thread about selfless acts..

 

PS> within the last year, I let a stranger Kayer in need of a warm place to stay on my yacht alone, then drove him to his next destination ..

Edited September 8, 2010 by a LoveShack.org Moderator

[Shakz]

Well, this went nowhere.

[Art_Critic]

There are other things.. but this is the thing I'm most proud of.. and most people I know have no idea.

 

http://www.loveshack.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1109925&postcount=11

 

A repost from a couple of years ago

 

 

I did it about 15 years ago..

 

A friend of mine was a deputy sheriff at the prison here.. he said he knew this girl that was a good person that needed a second chance and wanted to know if I could put her up in my home..

She had been is prison about 2 years..

 

I agreed to but had just one rule.. No sleepover guys as I didn't want people I didn't know in my house.

 

She was with me one week then one morning I woke up and went to the fridge and there was some guy watching my tv in the living room..I asked him who he was and he said he was a bar pickup who spent the night with her..

 

I kicked her out..

About 4 months later she calls me pregnant from that night and wanted to know if she can borrow my car to go on job interviews..

I agreed to it.. for the next 5 months until she had the baby..

She put the baby up for a private adoption ..

 

The next week she borrowed my car she never returned it.. went and stole the baby from the parents that adopted it and drove to florida.. on the way down she forged my signature on checks that were in the glove box..

 

I told the adoptive parents that I would get her back.. I hired a PI to go find her and swore out warrants for theft by conversion and 5 counts of forgery..

 

She finally turned herself in and got sentenced to 7 years..

She then got out early and stole some credit cards from a friend so she went back in for the whole 7 years..

 

All this because I was trying to be nice and let her use a back bedroom for a few weeks..

 

The cool thing about it is that I am responsible for saving the newborns child's life.. The adoptive parents had no legal recourse as Ga law has a built-in 30 day time frame that the mother can change her mind.. that is why I promised the parents I would get the baby back..

 

Whew.. and I gave you the shortened version.. there was more drama than this but I could write for an hour..

and no I never slept with her..It wasn't that kinda thing.. it was me doing someone down on their luck a favor..

if I had I wouldn't have been able to have her arrested and they would've thought it was a domestic case.

[Shakz]

There are other things.. but this is the thing I'm most proud of.. and most people I know have no idea.

 

http://www.loveshack.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1109925&postcount=11

 

A repost from a couple of years ago

 

 

I did it about 15 years ago..

 

A friend of mine was a deputy sheriff at the prison here.. he said he knew this girl that was a good person that needed a second chance and wanted to know if I could put her up in my home..

She had been is prison about 2 years..

 

I agreed to but had just one rule.. No sleepover guys as I didn't want people I didn't know in my house.

 

She was with me one week then one morning I woke up and went to the fridge and there was some guy watching my tv in the living room..I asked him who he was and he said he was a bar pickup who spent the night with her..

 

I kicked her out..

About 4 months later she calls me pregnant from that night and wanted to know if she can borrow my car to go on job interviews..

I agreed to it.. for the next 5 months until she had the baby..

She put the baby up for a private adoption ..

 

The next week she borrowed my car she never returned it.. went and stole the baby from the parents that adopted it and drove to florida.. on the way down she forged my signature on checks that were in the glove box..

 

I told the adoptive parents that I would get her back.. I hired a PI to go find her and swore out warrants for theft by conversion and 5 counts of forgery..

 

She finally turned herself in and got sentenced to 7 years..

She then got out early and stole some credit cards from a friend so she went back in for the whole 7 years..

 

All this because I was trying to be nice and let her use a back bedroom for a few weeks..

 

The cool thing about it is that I am responsible for saving the newborns child's life.. The adoptive parents had no legal recourse as Ga law has a built-in 30 day time frame that the mother can change her mind.. that is why I promised the parents I would get the baby back..

 

Whew.. and I gave you the shortened version.. there was more drama than this but I could write for an hour..

and no I never slept with her..It wasn't that kinda thing.. it was me doing someone down on their luck a favor..

if I had I wouldn't have been able to have her arrested and they would've thought it was a domestic case.

 

You are a better man than me, Gunga Din. I thank you for your considered response. We can never be sure that what we do will actually help those we are trying to help, and more likely than not it will blow up in our faces. Nevertheless we do it, hoping against hope that somehow, someway we will make a difference. Think about that baby. To me you are freakin' Batman, AC!

[CLC2008]

Great an interesting post, you are surely a cool and witty guy :-) (( thumbs up ))

 

I once complemented an idiot U2 fan for his stupid post to a thread about selfless acts..

 

PS> within the last year, I let a stranger Kayer in need of a warm place to say on my yacht alone, then drove him to his next destination ..

 

 

Was my post offensive to you in some way?

[Art_Critic]

Think about that baby.

 

Thanks Shakz..

I do think about that baby from time to time..

They were really good parents too.. they moved right after they got the baby back in order to prevent another baby 'napping and I never heard from them again other than for them to say good bye..

 

It is my feel good thing though..

[Shakz]

Thanks Shakz..

I do think about that baby from time to time..

They were really good parents too.. they moved right after they got the baby back in order to prevent another baby 'napping and I never heard from them again other than for them to say good bye..

 

It is my feel good thing though..

 

 

 

Right on. I know you are not a religious man but believe me when I tell you this will stand in your good stead. Keep thinking of others and do what you can when you can. That is the measure of a man.

[Star Gazer]

There was an episode of Friends where Phoebe and Joey argue about whether there really is such thing as a selfless act, because even when you do something totally for someone else, you end up feeling good in the process.

 

My most selfless act doesn't really count because I didn't get to finish it. A friend of mine's dad (who I never met) needed a bone marrow transplant. I was tested, and found to be a match.

 

Unfortunately, he got a really bad infection and passed before I could complete the process. It would have been a hellatious process and a very physically painful thing for me to go through, but I would have. In a heartbeat.

 

I also bought Christmas presents for a family of 5 last year (part of the community's "Christmas promise" for very poor families), wrapped them and handed them off to Santa, who delivered them while I peeked through the van's windows.

[florence of suburbia]

When I was in college there was a homeless Vietnam vet I used to see on the main drag when I walked to my job at this pizza place every evening. He was always on the same corner drinking beer with a few other homeless guys, maybe panhandling, although he never panhandled from me. It was 1988 or so, so he was probably about 40, and I was 19.

 

He told me his name and would always say hello to me and we'd exchange a few friendly words.

 

One evening as I passed, he asked if I would give him a kiss on the cheek. I didn't think he meant any harm --his life wasn't the greatest, so I did -- I kissed him on the cheek, and he said thank you, and smiled, and I went on to work.

 

After that, I saw him in the same spot from time to time, but he never asked me for another kiss.

 

I don't think is the most selfless thing I've ever done, but maybe the most interesting selfless thing I've done. Having and raising children is probably the most selfless.

Edited September 8, 2010 by florence of suburbia

[Stung]

I moved 800 miles to spend a year being the primary caretaker of my two 'nieces'/'goddaughters' after their father had a mental breakdown, tried to commit suicide, and then left the family destitute. They were eight and three at the time. After the first year I maintained joint custody of the girls with their grandma and aunt; now they have moved, but I still get them for a month in the summers. They've had a rough time of it but they're bright, beautiful girls and I miss them when they're gone. They call me 'Auntie' and regard my stepdaughter and son as their cousins. If their family life disintegrated again I would adopt them if I could.

[denise_xo]

Well, this went nowhere.

 

I guess we're all a bunch of selfish bastards.

[Cee]

I give to charities a lot & I gave large lump sum once to charity anonymously. But I don't think it's selfless to give money away that I don't need when people are starving and dying. It's basically the least I can do.

 

I can't think of anything that I've ever done that didn't benefit me somehow. I work in a nonprofit and people say how good that is. It's not self less - I earn an income, have good benefits and like the job.

 

I consider myself a good person, but the more I think about it, I am supremely selfish. Oh, well, so much for this being a feel good thread.

[TaraMaiden]

When I can afford it, I give a YOUNG cashier £5.00 and ask them to take it in payment for the next person who buys something for £5.00 or less, and give them the change. But to never ever let on who's paid it. (I also ask them to really think whether the person deserves it.....)

 

And then, usually without the cashier knowing, I stand close by and watch.

(Just to make sure the cashier doesn't pocket the cash themselves.)

 

I've been doing this a while, now, and it's never happened yet.

Sometimes, I've waited for quite a while.

The cashier's judgement is really quite commendable.

And the look on the face of the recipient, is priceless.

[Art_Critic]

My most selfless act doesn't really count because I didn't get to finish it. A friend of mine's dad (who I never met) needed a bone marrow transplant. I was tested, and found to be a match.

 

Unfortunately, he got a really bad infection and passed before I could complete the process. It would have been a hellatious process and a very physically painful thing for me to go through, but I would have. In a heartbeat.

 

Goes to show what kind of people you are SG...

I dated a girl many years ago and her sister donated a kidney to her bosses wife.

I thought that was about as selfless as a person can get in life.. giving one's own precious body to help another live...

 

They were eight and three at the time. After the first year I maintained joint custody of the girls with their grandma and aunt; now they have moved, but I still get them for a month in the summers.

Wow !!...

That sure is a feel good if there ever was one...

Watching them grow up has to put a smile on your face...

Edited September 8, 2010 by Art_Critic

[freestyle]

Well, I almost feel like this isn't much compared to donating an organ--which is so incredible to me when people do that......

 

But often times, when I get myself all bundled up to go out shoveling snow, after I clear my own driveway, I'll go ahead and clear my elderly neighbor's front walk and stoop.

 

When another neighbor became suddenly widowed, and had to leave to stay with a relative for a few weeks (it was too painful for her to be in the house),

I walked over and watered her flowers every day for 2 months, so she wouldn't eventually return home to find her garden dead.(she was the flower queen of the neighborhood, it was her pride and joy)

 

I'd like to believe that small acts of kindness create positive ripples in the world.

[denise_xo]

When I can afford it, I give a YOUNG cashier £5.00 and ask them to take it in payment for the next person who buys something for £5.00 or less, and give them the change. But to never ever let on who's paid it. (I also ask them to really think whether the person deserves it.....)

 

And then, usually without the cashier knowing, I stand close by and watch.

(Just to make sure the cashier doesn't pocket the cash themselves.)

 

I've been doing this a while, now, and it's never happened yet.

Sometimes, I've waited for quite a while.

The cashier's judgement is really quite commendable.

And the look on the face of the recipient, is priceless.

 

Nice one, TM.

[TaraMaiden]

.....

 

I'd like to believe that small acts of kindness create positive ripples in the world.

 

Nice one free....

I believe you're right.

Practising Random Acts of Kindness is a feel-good factor for everyone....

[freestyle]

Nice one free....

I believe you're right.

Practising Random Acts of Kindness is a feel-good factor for everyone....

 

Thanks, TM.....

 

And don't forget Senseless Acts of Beauty......

 

I like what you do with the cashiers, that's very cool.

 

I was on the receiving end of something like that once, I drove up to the pay toll booth on the tollway, and was informed that the person who'd gone before had payed my toll.

 

I felt a warm fuzzy glow for most of the day after that.

 

 

The way I see it is, there's so much negativity in the world, so much hate, prejudice, greed, etc. that the only way I can fight against that is by sending out positive ripples---even if it's something small, I hope my acts of kindness can help to create a counterbalance.Even a small spark can keep darkness at bay.

[CupidsPosionedArrow]

I guess we're all a bunch of selfish bastards.

 

I just moved a guy with no money , twice, he has special needs and is lazy, I moved him to help him and others, was not fun, cost me about 200 bucks and 20 hours.. Does that make me a nice guy? no idea.

[Stung]

 

 

Wow !!...

That sure is a feel good if there ever was one...

Watching them grow up has to put a smile on your face...

 

Thanks Art. It's amazing how fast they grow. I miss the girls during the bulk of the year but honestly four kids can be a little too much to handle sometimes, for me. But I worry about them, they do have some issues. The older girl is a young teenager now and she is hitting some rocky years, there are flashing danger signs. There's not much I can do about it as I live far away, am not a blood relative and have no formal rights, but she knows she can turn to me for advice or assistance. I do think their summer visits are good for them and I just keep my fingers crossed.

 

I was touched by what you tried to do in your story, I'm sorry it ended so badly.

[Mutant Debutante]

I moved 800 miles to spend a year being the primary caretaker of my two 'nieces'/'goddaughters' after their father had a mental breakdown, tried to commit suicide, and then left the family destitute. They were eight and three at the time. After the first year I maintained joint custody of the girls with their grandma and aunt; now they have moved, but I still get them for a month in the summers. They've had a rough time of it but they're bright, beautiful girls and I miss them when they're gone. They call me 'Auntie' and regard my stepdaughter and son as their cousins. If their family life disintegrated again I would adopt them if I could.

 

Awesome! We should totally go out for a beer!

 

The most selfless thing I ever did: I took my mom to court and took custody of my little sisters from her when I was 21. It's been rough figuring out the bills and being the "new mom" but it's the best thing. Now the older one is 19 but she still lives at home while she goes to college, and she helps out with our little sister.

[Shakz]

I just moved a guy with no money , twice, he has special needs and is lazy, I moved him to help him and others, was not fun, cost me about 200 bucks and 20 hours.. Does that make me a nice guy? no idea.

 

Yeah, you are a nice guy because you did it twice, you sap.